Startled by the noise, Lina quickly tucked the cardboard away and shifted her body away from Lyra.
Handing the heavy items she carried to Elise, Astrid noticed the carriage waiting outside.
She gave Lyra a cold glance, and the pink-haired maid imdiately rose from her seat and followed behind her.
"How was your experience here?" Astrid asked.
Lyra nodded and replied in a low voice, "The dishes were quite good. I'm very full."
As she spoke, Lyra subtly adjusted her posture, her hand brushing against her waist.
Hidden between her maid's skirt and white stockings was a letter, its soft texture pressed against her skin. The warmth of the paper seed to grow hotter as her voice softened.
Astrid didn't think much of it, assuming Lyra was embarrassed about sothing trivial but too shy to ntion it.
"If your stockings are slipping, go to the restroom and fix them. I can spare the ti," Astrid said casually.
Hearing this, Lyra's face flushed crimson, her ears burning with embarrassnt.
She pressed her slender, silk-clad legs together and hesitated for a mont before excusing herself.
She hurried to the restroom, quickly adjusting the position of the envelope so it rested against the outside of her thigh.
When she returned, her face was still tinged with red.
"Didn't Elise teach you that elegance is paramount for a maid? Taking a little extra ti to tidy yourself is never a waste,"
Lyra's neck turned a faint shade of scarlet, and her voice was barely audible. "Understood, Your Highness..."
She silently berated herself for not bringing a handbag when they left the palace earlier.
If she had, she wouldn't have found herself in such an awkward situation.
Satisfied that Lyra was fine, Astrid gave a slight nod.
She took Elise's hand and allowed herself to be helped into the carriage.
The three of them returned to the palace under the cover of night.
-------
Once back in her bedroom, Lyra activated the fire-attribute crystal lamp and sat on the edge of her bed.
Slowly, she removed her white silk stockings and retrieved the letter, still warm from her skin.
"This letter was given to by an unknown well-wisher. You'll understand once you read it. Prince Lucas is not a good person, and Astrid is far from simple."
The words Lina had hastily written on the cardboard echoed in her mind.
Lyra held the envelope, her fingers trembling as she hesitated to open it.
A strange sense of guilt washed over her, as though opening the letter would an betraying Her Highness Astrid.
Should I read it... or not?
A fine layer of sweat ford on Lyra's palms, slightly wrinkling the envelope.
The letter... It's not just about Her Highness Astrid's faults. It's also about Prince Lucas...
Rembering Lina's anxious expression as she wrote and the ntion of her parents in the note, Lyra bit her lip.
Her fingers trembled as they inched closer to the envelope's seal.
Just one look... Just a quick glance...
With a deep breath, she slowly opened the envelope.
Unwrapping the envelope, Lyra revealed the slightly yellowed parchnt inside.
Gently smoothing the surface of the paper, her sky-blue eyes lowered, and her gaze slowly fell on the first line of words.
{Dear Miss Lina Velmont,
I have heard that Princess Astrid's new valet, Lyra Beckett, has had a fateful relationship with you, and after much thought, I believe you are the most likely person to help her at the mont.}
Gradually reading further, the letter ntioned that Prince Lucas had long sought the support of the Velmont family.
After Earl Tristian Velmont extended an invitation to dance, Lucas had set his sights on Lyra, intending to use her as a bargaining chip in a political maneuver to curry favor with the Earl.
The letter also revealed that Lucas harbored a fanatical desire for Lyra, though he had never found the opportunity to act on it.
While detailing Prince Lucas's ill intentions toward Lyra, the writer also hinted that he might have been involved in unfavorable actions against her parents.
The letter explicitly stated that Lina had sent n to protect Lyra's family, which explained why Lina had emphasized to Lyra that night that her parents were under the protection of the Velmont family.
With her family no longer a vulnerability, Lyra was less susceptible to Lucas's manipulations and relatively safer.
As for Princess Astrid Valeria, the letter provided little information, only noting that the silver-haired princess had recently taken an interest in Lyra.
Due to Astrid's infatuation with Earl Tristian, even if Lucas attempted to offer Lyra to the Earl, Astrid would not consent.
After carefully analyzing the letter, Lyra realized the perilous situation she was in.
Were it not for the delicate balance of power between Astrid and Lucas, she might have already been treated as a commodity, her fate uncertain.
The blatant disregard for her dignity by the nobility of the Valeria Empire left Lyra feeling a deep sense of resentnt.
Her lips turned pale as she clenched her teeth.
She's a living person, not a commodity... How could Prince Lucas think that...
Her jade-like fingers subconsciously tightened around the letter. Lyra took a deep breath, her small, pale ankles brushing against the edge of the bed as she read the letter from top to bottom once more.
Before leaving, Lina had specifically advised Lyra to try to identify the letter's author and form an alliance with them against Astrid's persecution.
Such an alliance might save her life in a critical mont.
However, apart from the letter itself, the ssenger had left no clues. Where could she even begin?
Lyra pondered. The writer seed to know a great deal about the inner workings of the palace, suggesting they were likely close to the royal circle.
Could it be a maid who had been dismissed by Astrid following the seafood soup incident?
As she considered this, Lyra's brow furrowed slightly.
The more she examined the letter, the more familiar the handwriting seed.
The script was neat and clear, with a faint coldness to it, yet it retained the delicate elegance characteristic of a noblewoman's hand.
Such distinctive handwriting... Had she seen it sowhere before?
A flash of inspiration struck her, and the image of a silver-haired, red-eyed princess ca to mind.
She realized where the familiarity stemd from.
The handwritten labels on Astrid's potion bottles bore a striking resemblance to the handwriting on the letter.
Could the letter's author be Princess Astrid herself?
The idea seed so absurd that Lyra quickly dismissed it.
No, that can't be. If Princess Astrid wrote this, then the letter's content would essentially be her criticizing herself.
Despite this reasoning, the sense of familiarity lingered.
But... the handwriting was so similar...
Astrid's potion bags were kept in her private bedroom, and Lyra couldn't access them to compare the handwriting directly.
Yet, based on mory alone, she felt certain.
Could it be that Princess Astrid and the letter's author simply shared similar handwriting, leading to her confusion?
Was such a coincidence even possible?
Sitting on the bed, Lyra felt deeply conflicted.
At this mont, she was more concerned with uncovering the true identity of the letter's writer than the contents of the letter itself.
Even though she knew it was almost impossible, Lyra couldn't help but let her thoughts drift in that direction.
If the letter had truly been written by Princess Astrid, what would her motives be?
The more she thought about it, the more Lyra felt she couldn't see through Astrid.
The princess was like a hazy fog, impossible to fully grasp.
Whether it was her way of acting or her attitude toward the world, everything about her was unpredictable.
'Tomorrow, when Astrid is refining the dicine, I'll compare the handwriting again. Maybe I was wrong from the start.'
"Knock Knock..."
At that mont, an intermittent knock sounded at the door.
Lyra's delicate body tensed instantly at the noise.
She hurriedly stuffed the parchnt and envelope into the soft quilt.
"Who's there?" Lyra called out.
"Astrid," ca the cold reply from outside.
Hearing this, Lyra quickly straightened the quilt, slipped on her slippers, and walked to the door, gently pulling the handle inward.
In the hallway stood Astrid, dressed in the plain black gown she had worn for dinner that evening.
Her expression was as cold as ever as she looked at Lyra.
"What were you doing? Why did it take you so long to open the door?"
Her hearing was sharp, though not as keen as a professional knight's, she had clearly heard the sound of hurried footsteps from inside the room just monts ago.
"N-nothing, Your Highness Astrid," Lyra stamred.
Naturally, she didn't dare reveal that Lina had delivered the letter.
She could only answer in a whisper, her voice trembling slightly.
Astrid studied Lyra's nervous expression, suspecting that the girl had been hiding sothing private in her room.
Her gaze swept over Lyra's chest, lingered on her lower abdon, and then dropped to the hem of her skirt.
The milky-white pantyhose Lyra had been wearing earlier were gone, leaving her smooth, alluring legs exposed.
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